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Freedom2 6 hours ago

Curious how this trait is American? Is there something about the way Americans speak that is fake?

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comboy 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If I share a project with an American friend and he says it's awesome, I still don't know whether he liked it or not.

If I share it with a Polish or German friend and he says it's "not bad" then I know he is really impressed.

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wuliwong 2 hours ago | parent [-]

And somehow Americans are able to give and receive criticism amongst themselves, iterate, and make progress!?

	▲	2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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overfeed 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's not "fake" - it's cultural differences where what is intended to come across as polite by Americans[1] can be seen as insincere by people from elsewhere. On the flip side, Americans often view foreign behavior that's intended to be neutral as unfriendly, uncaring or cold.

1. e.g. lots of smiling, use of superlatives like "great"/"amazing" to describe mediocre items/effort/results

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robotresearcher 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Oh yes.

Execs are ‘super excited’ about everything. There is no dynamic range at all. They appear to have no opinions and no judgement because their opinion is always that everything is awesome. When the audience knows that stuff is either normal-level ok or actually fucked up, this message is insulting to receive.

Worse, it trains people downstream that shiny happy is the only valid comms. Hard to escalate a concern when you don’t know how to start the message with how super excited you are about it.

It drove me crazy during my corporate period.

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Slow_Hand 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yes. Zero dynamic range.

If everything is at a “10” in linguistic intensity (“Incredible”, “Legendary”, “GOAT”) then nothing is exceptional.

It’s the linguistic equivalent of a Dorito chip.

I’m American and this marketing/corporate speak drives me up the wall. I have a harder time respecting the judgement of people who thoughtlessly speak this way.

	▲	_kb 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It’s the linguistic equivalent of the loudness wars.

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zchrykng 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not American as much as it is "corporatese".

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dijit 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, absolutely.

At least to my British ears, Americans rarely sound authentic.

Its always grandiose statements and elaborate smiles.

	▲	kirubakaran an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Ah yes British, the famously direct people who say things like "Maybe I haven’t explained this very well", "I’ll bear it in mind", or "How interesting!" which anyone unfamiliar with the culture would interpret to be the opposite of what was actually meant. "I may be wrong", but perhaps 'Americans rarely sound authentic' to you simply because you're just more familiar with your own culture's idiosyncrasies? Anyway, I love the Brits; no flame intended. I come in peace! :-)
	▲	jimbokun 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Sure but occasionally that attitude leads to men walking on the moon.

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mark_undoio 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Speaking as a Brit, our national trait is generally too understate things. So even saying what you mean, directly, comes off as a bit immodest and hyping it up in sales pitches sounds shady.

Americans generally say what they mean a bit more, so I think their mid point is just different.

	▲	TheOtherHobbes 5 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		We do say what we mean, it's just either carefully coded in mutual assured understatement, or buried under expletive-laden exaggeration. Any native knows that "Interesting, but perhaps we should reconsider" means "You're an idiot and I don't understand how you ever learned to breathe." The pinnacle is "Not bad", which can mean either deep approval or blistering contempt, depending on tone of voice. It drives foreigners insane. But of course it's not our fault if they never learned English.
	▲	mft_ 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Speaking as a Brit, I couldn’t disagree more. I have no trouble understanding a wide variety of Europeans in a corporate environment, but sometimes struggle to even understand the basics of what Americans are trying to communicate, let alone the nuances of their position. It’s like ‘American corporate’ is a totally different language that I don’t speak. The words sound the same, but that’s about it.

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PetitPrince 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As other comment suggested, the way I see it Americans are addicted to hyperbolas. Instead of "Thank you" it's "Thank you so much". So when you genuinely want to thank someone because that person went above and beyond (saved your life, avoided you a substantial hassle, etc.) then it's difficult to convey that.

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jimbokun 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Beyond just American, they are trying to emulate Jobs style without his genius for presenting in a compelling and attention grabbing way.

	▲	wuliwong 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I really think this is it. It's crazy how flat and disingenuous it all feels.

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cassianoleal 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As a Brazilian, I also find that annoying and unnatural.